Jerome Wetzel is the Chief Television Critic for Seat42F and a regular contributing reviewer on Blogcritics. He also appears on The Good, The Bad, and the Geeky podcast and Let's Talk TV With Barbara Barnett.

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Friday, December 13, 2013

Blu-ray Review: ‘Futurama Volume 8′

Finally, the last episodes of Futurama
have hit Blu-ray. No, seriously. The series, which was canceled on FOX,
found new life on DVD and in four straight-to-disc movies, and was
resurrected for a few more years on Comedy Central, has been canceled
again, and Futurama Volume 8 has the very last 13 episodes of Futurama that will ever be made. For now.

Most of Volume 8 is good. Better than the other Comedy
Central episodes, hands down. Something that plagued the series all
during its reboot was an inability to stick to continuity in terms of
character relationships, and because Futurama is more heart
than laughs, that’s important. This batch, in keeping with the trend, is
amusing, but not overly so. More importantly, though, even though Fry
(Billy West) and Leela (Katey Sagal) finally get together just prior to
the start of the CC run, the show can never seem to make up its mind if
they are a couple of not. Until at the end of this set, the matter is
(mostly) settled, making for better installments near the conclusion.

The episodes on the two DVDs are presented in production order, not
broadcast order. This means that the two that aired first, “2-D
Blacktop” and “Fry and Leela’s Big Fling,” are episodes two and four on
the discs, respectively. Though, as Futurama rarely has plot
that extends from week to week (with returning threads coming back much
later, not in consecutive installments), that shouldn’t matter.

The best episodes in Volume 8 include: “T.: The Terrestrial,” in which Fry is left behind on Omicron Persei 8 and lives out E.T.
as an alien’s pet; “Saturday Morning Fun Pit,” a take off of
traditional weekend cartoons in a trilogy of minisodes; “Calculon 2.0,”
in which Bender tries to resurrect deceased ham-of-an-actor Calculon
(Maurice LaMarche); “Game of Tones,” a mission back to 1999 and the
series’ pilot, and Fry visits his mother; “Murder on the Planet
Express,” where the crew are killed off on the ship, a la Alien; and “Stench and Stenchibility,” in which Zoidberg (Billy West) finally finds love.

I did not include series finale “Meanwhile,” on the list because it
deserves its own paragraph (or more). Perhaps knowing their time was at
an end, the Futurama writers sought to match the stellar
previous series finale, “The Devil’s Hands Are Idle Playthings.” Knowing
that the element of the show serious fans are most invested in is the
relationship between Fry and Leela, “Meanwhile” seeks to finally make
good on that romance as much as can be made.

The result is a bittersweet world in which Fry and Leela are the last
two people on Earth. Their friends (and everyone else) are frozen in
time, and the pair spend an entire lifetime together, traveling the
globe by their lonesome, happy to share each others’ company. It’s
incredibly sweet and moving, and we get to see them find the ending they
deserve at long last. Plus, there are cameos from most of the beloved
recurring characters through their journey, a nice capper.

The end of “Meanwhile” is a bit of a cheat, leaving the door open to
make more episodes or movies, should the series have the chance to do so
(please let it be so). Yet, at the same time, it also pays off for the
marriage, too. For a full review of the episode, click here.

Volume 8 boasts audio commentary on all 13 episodes. I can’t
remember the last time a series did that, and it’s certainly welcome.
There’s also a second commentary for “Game of Tones,” the second best
episode in this set after “Meanwhile,” featuring the animators. Plus,
deleted scenes are included, as well as a look at both the writers’ room
and the animation process. It’s a satisfying bunch of extras.

I have found that animation that was originally made in high definition (as Futurama
is) pretty much always looks great on Blu-ray. More than film, cartoons
have the ability to shape the image exactly how they want, and there’s
little better than watching sharp, finely detailed, well-drawn shows
like this. Futurama doesn’t typically break new ground in
effects, but the quality is high and consistent throughout the episodes.
The sound is equally clear, even without many frills, providing a very
pleasing viewing and listening experience.